Marker buoy



Dec. 18, 196 s. B. COLEMAN MARKER BUOY Filed Aug. 1, 1961 SIDNEY B. COLEMAN ATTORNEKS' 8 3 w W m I w M f'lxlfrlllli l' lli 2 Z w w H m in a United States Patent 3,668,497 MARKER BUGY Sidney B. Coleman, 247 Far-hum St., North Andover, Mass. Filed Aug. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 123,590 16 filaims. (Cl. 9-9) This invention relates to marker buoys for indicating the location of submerged articles.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide marker de vices for attachment to valuable article such as fishing rods or outboard motors wherein the device remains attached at all times to the article. In such devices the article usually serves as the weighted anchor member and upon accidental submergence, a float carrying an anchor line is released to come to the surface of the water by means of dissolvable seals or the like. Among the possible disadvantages of this type of apparatus is the fact that rain, spray and high humidity may adversely affect a dissolvable seal before the device is used and that every article of value in a boat would have to have such a marker device attached thereto. Such apparatus would be of little use in marking the location of a watch, a set of false teeth or a propeller which might be accidentally lost from aboat.

It is the essence of this invention to provide a general purpose, self releasing marker buoy which can be carried in a boat ready to be thrown overboard for instantaneous marking of the position of a lost submerged object during the fleeting knowledge of such location on the part of the observer.

Devices for this purpose have also been proposed and usually consist of an anchor member secured to a float member, there being a supply of anchor line to connect the members and some type of anchor release means usually actuated by water pressure when the device is submerged. Bellows and flexible diaphragms have been used for actuating the release of such anchors but, by their nature, such apparatus requires substantial pressure differentials thus requiring deep water to operate properly. Magnetic buoys having a spring loaded contact pin have been suggested, as well as gas cartridges which must be pierced, but actual engagement with a hard submerged object is usually required by apparatus of this type. Where contact with a submerged object, or considerable water pressure, are required to actuate a marker buoy, the buoy does not float and if the anchor fails to release the submerged buoy is lost.

In this invention the marker buoy includes a float, a releasable anchor and a supply of anchor line but also includes a container, the anchor being supported by the container and the float being movable within the container to release the anchor. The buoyancy of the entire buoy with the anchor unreleased is such that the buoy floats with the anchor at its bottom and under the level of the water, but with about one third of the volume of the container above water and visible. Thus if the anchor should not release the device is easily recoverable. However, the flotation movement of the float, within the container, upwardly away from the anchor as soon as the buoy is thrown into the water, releases the anchor from the container to sink to the bottom of the body of water. In other words the displacement of the container is negligible and the weight of the anchor member is just sufficient to load the float to slightly less than maximum displacement. if the anchor should not reach bottom because of inadvertent damage, contamination or insuflicient length of line, the container and buoyant member will float vertically with the upper end showing above water for retrieval.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a ice rugged marker buoy which can be made at low cost and which will instantly release an anchor member upon being dropped into the water to mark a submerged object, mark a channel or mark a course to be followed at a later time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a marker buoy with a novel latching means for connecting the anchor to the buoy, the latching means being actuated, or triggered, by the flotative movement of a float within the buoy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a marker buoy in which the buoyant member is not only movable by flotation within a container but also movable rotatively whereby the buoyant member may carry the anchor line as a float reel.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a marker buoy having a movable, flotatable reel within a container and having resilient means within the container operable on the reel to prevent undesired flotative or rotative movement of the reel thereby forming part of a safety lock and a line pay out control.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a marker buoy having a self contained anchor and anchor 'line, the anchor being automatically released upon immersion of the buoy in water but not otherwise and the length of line payed out being automatically controlled.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the descrption of the drawing and from the drawing in which FIG. 1 is an elevational view, in half section of the marker buoy of the invention with the anchor secured thereto,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view, similar to FIG. 1, showing the buoyant member moved by flotation to release the latching means and release the anchor member, and

FIG. 3 is a plan view on line 33 of FIG. 2.

In the drawing the marker buoy 2t includts the perforate container 21 which may be of hollow cylindrical configuration but which preferably is provided with an oppositely tapered side wall 22 having an inwardly dished end 23 and an open end 24. The container 21 is of circular cross section, with effluent air ports 25 and a central aperture 2a in the end 23. As shown, container 24 is preferably elongated with a longitudinal axis indicated in dotted lines at 27 passing through the centre of aperture 26. A longitudinally extending slot 28 is provided in the side wall 22 intermediate of the container and an aperture 29 is provided proximate the open, or lower, end 24 in side wall 22. A plurality of radially extending fins such as 32 and 33 are integral with the side wall 22 of container 21 for outlining a polygonal figure and thereby preventing the container from rolling when carried in a boat or elsewhere.

Preferably container 2-1 is of a plastic, self supporting material which may be rigid or semi-rigid and for convenience of manufacture, assembly and re-use, container 21 is closed by an end cap 34 of squeezable, resilient plastic material. Cap 34 is of inverted cup shape with a pair of oppositely disposed flanges 35 and 36 which fit in a pair of corresponding laterally extending slots 37 and 38 in side wall 22. The base or bottom 39 of cap 34 is perforated at 41 and 42 whereby the depending, hollow cylindrical flange 43 may be squeezed to retract the flanges 35 and 36 from their slots for application or removal of the cap. integral with the cap 34 is an elongated tubular post 44 extending axially into the float chamber 48 of the container 21, the post 44 having an exterior face 45 and an interior face 46. An aperture 47 is provided in the cylindrical flange 43, which registers with the corresponding aperture 29 in the side wall 22.

The anchor member 50 of the device is of the mushroom type in that it includes a Weighted enlarged portion 51 which fits within the space defined by the flange 4-3 of the inverted cup shaped cap 3 and an axially extending stem, or shank 52. The stem 52 is normally housed in the space defined by the interior face 46 of the tubular post and the tip 53 of the stem 52 is apertured at 54 for attachment of an anchor line.

The buoyant member 55 of the device is mounted for flotative movement within the container 21 along a predetermined path which path is preferably along the longitudinal axis of the container. Buoyant member 55 is formed of a block of plastic foam, or in any other suitable manner, preferably of generally elongated, cylindrical configuration with a post 56 extending axially from one end 57 through the central aperture 26 of the container end Wall 23. The opposite end 58 of the buoyant member 55 is preferably flat for flatwise engagement on the base 39 of cap 34 which constitutes the container end wall at the anchor end of the container. Member 55 is provided with an axial bore 59, preferably lined with a cam bushing 61, of metal or the like, forming a cam or detent engaging face 62 and a bearing face 91 which slidably and rotatively fits around the exterior face 45 of the tubular post 44. The member 55 may also be counter bored at 60 to accommodate the tip 53 of anchor member 50. The clearance between the end 57 of the buoyant member 55 and the dished end 23 of the container 21 is such that when the buoy is immersed and upward force is exerted on the buoyant member through the influent passages 41 and 42 the buoyant member is moved by flotation along the axis of the container an appreciable distance such as half an inch or more.

Latching means 63 for connecting the anchor member 50 to the container 21 is actuated immediately upon immersion of the buoy as soon as the buoyant member floats upwardly within the container. Means 63 comprises an anular groove 64 of curved cross section intermediate of the stem 52 of the anchor member, a pair of oppositely disposed slots 65 and 66 in the tubular post 44, a pair of annular detents, or cam rings, 67 and 63 each mounted in one of the slots 65 or 66 and pivots within the cam rings and mounted on the tubular post 44. As shown, the tubular post 44 may be grooved at 69 to receive a wire 7%} to serve as the pivot points 71 and 72 of the cam rings. The inner portions 73 and 74 of the detents 67 and -63 are normally seated in the groove 64 and the outer portions 75 and 76 of the detents are in contact with the face 62 of bushing 61 whereby the anchor memher is secured to the container. When the buoyant member 55 moves axially within the container the restraint of the axial bore is removed from the detents, which then are moved radially outwardly by the weight of the anchor member to release the same. The latching means 63 is thus of the mechanical interlock type to instantaneously set the anchor member 50 free, rather than of the relatively slow acting water soluble seal, or tablet, type of the prior art.

It should be noted that the pivot points '71 and 72 are preferably relatively close to the stem 52 and relatively distant from the axial bore 59 thereby reducing the leverage exerted by the stem and reducing the frictional contact of the detents with the wall of the axial bore.

The buoyant member 55 preferably constitutes a reel for the coil, or supply, 85 of anchor line 79 in addition to its function of triggering the release of the anchor member by fiotative movement. As shown, the member 55 is mounted to rotate on the longitudinal axis 27 of the container 22 with the post 56 and aperture 26 serving as the bearing at one end and the cam bushing 61 and tubular post 44 serving as the hearing at the opposite end. The member 55 is grooved at 77, the groove being traversed by the longitudinal ribs such as '78 and the coil 85 is supported on the ribs within the confines of the groove 77. The anchor line 79 is directed tangentially from the float reel formed by buoyant member 55 outwardly through the slot 28 in the container side wall 22 and thence runs axially along the outside of the container to the aperture 29 proximate the anchor end of the con tainer. It then runs inwardly through the aperures 29 and 47 and upwardly through tubular post 44 to connedtion to the tip 53 of the stein of the anchor member.-

Resilient means 80 is preferably provided for the pun poses of a safety lock and a line pay out control. As shown, means 80 is preferably an annular block 81 of resilient foam rubber, or similar material, encircling the post 5 6 and normally filling the clearance space between the end 57 of the buoyant member, or float reel, 55 and the end 23 of the container 21. The spring 81 thus continually opposes movement of the member 55 away from the anchor member 51} with a predetermined force but the buoyancy of member 55 is such that it can overcome and compress spring 8 1 when the buoy is about two thirds immersed with the anchor end downward. This prevents accidental displacement of the buoyant member prior to immersion. In addition, when the anchor member has been released, the anchor line payed out and the an chor has reached bottom, the weight of the anchor no longer pulls on the line to maintain the container in a vertical, or upended, position. The container then tends to float on its side which permits the spring 81 to move the buoyant member back toward the cap '34 with the flat end 58 in engagement with the fiat base 3 of the cap. The foam plastic material of the buoyant member 55 is in-- herently formed with a friction face and frictiorially engages the face of the base 39 tending to halt further rotation of the member 55 thereby tending to halt the pay out of line. If the tide then rises, the increased pull of the anchor member will again partially, or fully, immerse the buoy and u'p-end the container from its recumbent position, permitting the buoyant member to move flota tively upward within the container, separate the friction faces and permit the buoyant member to revolve and pay out additional line.

However, it is preferred that one or more axially ex tending lock pins such as 83 and 84 be provided on the flat end 58 of the member 55 and received in suitable sockets such as the apertures 41 and 42, for a more posi-' tive engagement than the frictional engagement men tioned above.

While the device has been illustrated in its preferred form, herein, it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the structure within the scope of the invention. For example, a single cam ring, or a pivoted detent, seated in a groove in one member and having a portion on the opposite side of the pivot in contact with an overlapping member might constitute a satisfactory latching means. However, I have found that an annular detent, loosely carried on a pivot, gives superior results with no tendency to bind or otherwise fail to release the anchor and that such an annular cam on each side of the anchor stem reduces the friction of slidable release and increases the speed of release of the anchor member.

The container 21 may, of course, be of rectangular or square cross section, if desired, to prevent rolling when the marker buoy is resting on its side in a boat, or elscwhere. The marker buoy of the invention will stand upright, if desired, because of the weight of the anchor member. The buoyant member 55 may be a hollow bottle of glass or other suitable material and both the container 21 and buoyant member 55 may be formed of identical receptacles sealed together at their rims.

I claim:

1. A marker buoy for indicating the location of submerged articles, said buoy comprising a relatively light container having ports in the wall thereof; a relatively heavy anchor member associated with said container; a supply of anchor line within said container and attached to said anchor member; a buoyantmember movable by flotation in a predetermined path within said container, upon the entrance of liquid through said ports and mechanical interlock latching means in said container releasably connecting said buoyant member to said anchor member and releasably connecting said anchor member to said container, said means being operable to release said anchor member from container immediately upon flotation movement of said buoyant member within said container.

2. A combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said buoyant member is mounted to rotate within said container while movable along said predetermined path and said supply of anchor line is wound around said buoyant member.

3. A combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said container is elongated, said buoyant member is an elongated reel of plastic foam mounted for rotation on the longitudinal axis of said container and said supply of anchor line is Wound around said reel.

4. A combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said latching means includes an elongated element on one said member at a spaced distance from, and overlapping an elongated element on the other said member, one of said elements having a detent groove and the other said element having a detent contacting face and a detent, pivoted to said container with a portion thereof on one side of said pivot engaged in said groove and a portion on the other side of said pivot retained by said detent contacting face, said detent being released to pivoting when said detent contacting face is moved out of contact with said detent by the flotative movement of said buoyant member.

5. A combination as specified in claim 1 plu safety lock means including a resilient element within said container arranged to oppose the movement by flotation of said buoyant member along said path with a predetermined force, the buoyancy of said buoyant member, when said marker buoy is substantially immersed in water, overcoming said force and permitting the release of said anchor member.

6. A combination as specified in claim 3 plus line pay out means including at least one locking pin extending axially from one end of said reel and normally received in a socket in the adjacent end of said container and a resilient element within said container urging said reel toward said end of said container with a predetermined force, the buoyancy of said buoyant member overcoming said force and releasing said reel to free rotation.

7. A combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said latching means includes a pivoted detent for releasing said anchor member, said buoyant member includes a detent contacting face for restraining the pivoting of said detent and said buoyant member is spring urged in a direction opposite to the direction of flotation thereof within said container, the buoyancy of said buoyant member overcoming the efiect of said spring, releasing said detent to pivoting and thereby releasing said anchor member.

8, A marker buoy for indicating the location of submerged articles, said buoy comprising a hollow, perforate container; a buoyant member, rotatably mounted within said container, said member being movable by flotation along the axis of rotation thereof, within said container; an anchor member supported by said container, said anchor member ballasting said container and buoyant member into stabilized position with said axis of rotation vertical when said buoy is immersed; a supply of anchor line wound around said buoyant member and connected to said anchor member; and laching means, actuated by the movement of said buoyant member along said axis of rotation for releasing said anchor member from said container.

9. A marker buoy for indicating submerged locations,

said buoy comprising in combination a perforate container having an axis; a buoyant member bodily movable by flotation along said axis within said container; an

anchor member supported on said container and adapted to ballast said buoy with the axis of said container vertical; an anchor line arranged to extend between said anchor member and said container and mechanical interlock latching means releasably securing said anchor member to said container, said means including detent mechanism actuated by the flotation movement of said buoyant member along said axis immediately upon submergence of said buoy, to set free said anchor member.

10. A combination as specified in claim 9 wherein said buoyant member is a reel mounted to rotate on said axis and said anchor line is wound around said buoyant member.

11. A combination as specified in claim 10 plus a resilient foam spring within said container urging said reel along said axis; into latching engagement with said anchor member; positive locking means on said reel and container for preventing rotation of said reel when in said latching engagement, said spring being yieldable to release said locking means and said latching means when a predetermined upward force is exerted on said foam reel during the flotation thereof.

12. A combination as specified in claim 9 wherein said container is of elongated hollow substantially cylindrical configuration, said buoyant member is a substantially cylindrical reel of plastic foam longitudinally movable within said container and said container includes a plurality of longitudinally extending, exterior, integral fins therearound outlining a polygon for preventing rolling of said container.

13. A combination as specified in claim 9 wherein said anchor member includes a stern extending axially into an axial bore in said buoyant member and said latching means includes an annular groove extending around said stem and a pair of annular detents, each loosely pivotable on a pivot secured to said container and each normally having a portion of the periphery thereof seated in said groove with the opposite portion of the periphery thereof in engagement with the interior face of said axial bore, the flotation movement of said buoyant member withdrawing the restraining action of said axial bore and permitting the Weight of said anchor member to pivot said detents out of said groove thereby releasing said anchor member.

14. A combination as specified in claim 13 wherein said pivots are relatively close to said stem and relatively distant from said axial bore thereby decreasing the leverage exerted by said anchor member on said detents and hence decreasing the frictional contact of said detents with the interior face of said axial bore.

15. A marker buoy for indicating submerged locations, said buoy comprising in combination a perforate, elongated, hollow container having a sidewall, a flat end wall and a longitudinal axis; a buoyant reel mounted to rotate on, and move along, said axis within said container, said reel having a flat end, with an axial bore, in frictional engagement with the adjacent fiat end wall of said container; an anchor member supported by said container, said anchor member having a stem extending through said end wall of said container into the said axial bore of said buoyant reel; an anchor line wound on said reel and extending tangentially therefrom out through the side wall of said container, thence toward said anchor member and thence back through said side wall and into attachment to said anchor member; latching means, triggered by the axial movement of said reel away from said container end wall, for releasing said anchor member and line pay out means for controlling the rotation of said reel in accordance with the direction of pull by said anchor member on said line, when said anchor is released.

16. A combination as sriecified in claim 15 wherein said line pay out means includes mechanism locking said reel against rotation when said reel is adjacent the anchor end of said container; and a resilient member resiliently urging said reel toward the anchor end of said container, said resilient member yielding to unlock said reel to free rotation when the downward pull on said line by said anchor member is sufiicient to up-end said container and fiotatively move said buoyant reel away from the anchor end of said container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

